A little-known divorce process

In our opinion, the best way to divorce is for the divorcing couple to agree on everything ‘across the kitchen table’.

But we appreciate that not many people are able to do that and, although mediation is often then next best alternative, it doesn’t work for everyone.

The normal route of instructing both a solicitor and a barrister is hugely expensive so what’s left?

One option, and there are others, is where a little-known process called ‘Direct Access’ is available: With Direct Access, instead of involving both a solicitor and a barrister, you only have a barrister.

This is revolutionising the way individuals navigate their legal matters with efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

By eliminating the duplication of having both a solicitor and a
barrister, and with barrister’s charges generally being cheaper than solicitors, Direct Access offers significant cost savings, ensuring that financial resources can be allocated where they are most needed, such as supporting children or rebuilding lives post-divorce.

At Divorce Solutions, we look at all the alternative ways of dealing with disputes and, wherever possible favour the barrister only, Direct Access, route.

We have found that the direct engagement with barristers promotes transparency and empowers individuals to actively participate in their own legal strategy, fostering a sense of control and confidence throughout the divorce journey.

We are a team of 5 experienced lawyers but, what makes us different to a firm of solicitors, is that we are acting as divorce consultants. We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

Resources for those separating or divorcing

Acutely aware that people often don’t know where to turn at this difficult time, this month we would like to draw your attention to some really good resources that are freely available.

• CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) – provides excellent information to help both parents and children. The information has been assembled with input from therapists, child psychologists, lawyers and other experienced professionals.

• REFUGE – This is a charity providing help and support for women and their children who are experiencing domestic abuse.

• Law and Parents – offers an information source for parents wishing to learn about their legal responsibilities and their rights in relation to their children.

• Families Need Fathers – provides help with shared parenting issues arising from relationship breakdown whether you’re the mum or dad, married or unmarried.

We are a team of 5 experienced lawyers but, what makes us different to a firm of solicitors, is that we are acting as divorce consultants. We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

If the above resonates or you know someone who may benefit from speaking to us, please do contact me. We don’t charge for an initial consultation.

The Bank of Mum and Dad

To get on the property ladder, couples are often having to rely on gifts from parents. However, should the couple subsequently divorce, this can result in unintended consequences.

The general position is that, unless at the time the gift is ‘protected’ in some way, in the event of divorce the money involved is likely to be considered as part of the marital assets to be divided between the parties.

However, a gift can be protected either by documenting it as a loan (carrying interest and with a repayment date and other features of a loan), or possibly by the parties entering into a pre-nuptial agreement.

The cost of contested court proceedings at the time of divorce can be very expensive and, in comparison to the cost of court proceedings, the cost of preparing a loan agreement or a pre-nup at the outset is nominal.

We are a team of 5 experienced lawyers but, what makes us different to a firm of solicitors, is that we are acting as divorce consultants. We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

If the above resonates or you know someone who may benefit from speaking to us, please do contact me. We don’t charge for an initial consultation.

Divorcing digitally

When divorcing, people should consider setting up a new email address or, at the very least, changing their password.

This particularly applies to communications with their lawyer, therapist, or new partner and avoid using a new password that their other half may be able to guess.

They should change the password on bank accounts and social media and consider who to block on social media accounts.

Changing the pin of their phone, switching off ‘Find my Phone’ and stopping sharing calendars are also recommended. Before you decide who gets to keep your shared devices, back up what you want and then factory reset.

Finally, they should log out of sites where they would normally remain logged in and untick ‘remember my password’ options.

Divorce Solutions are a team of 5 experienced lawyers but, what makes us different to a firm of solicitors, is that we are acting as divorce consultants. We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

If the above resonates or you know someone who may benefit from speaking to us, please do contact me. We don’t charge for an initial consultation.

Let’s cohabit and not get married?

Cohabitation is the fastest growing family type in the UK with almost 4 million couples cohabiting in 2021.

However, this is a huge problem as most people mistakenly believe that cohabitation (which some refer to as a common law marriage), gives the same rights as a married couple. This is wrong.

Cohabitation gives no general legal status

If the cohabiting couple break up, they must rely on the general law to resolve disputes: for example, if not named on the title deeds of their home, such disputes can be difficult and expensive and often result in an unsatisfactory outcome.

A cohabitation agreement setting out what is to happen in the event of a relationship breakdown is a good way of protecting the parties and should always be considered. Such an agreement should include what is to happen to joint property, mortgages & loans, savings and investments etc if the cohabiting relationship ends.

Although it is possible to write your own cohabitation agreement there are pitfalls that need to be avoided so it is sensible to enlist qualified help and to keep the agreement under review in the event of a material change in circumstances.

At Divorce Solutions we help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes

Mediation for divorce

With the head of the family courts estimating that 20% of marriage break- ups are wrongly ending up in court, mediation provides a good cheap and quick way of reaching a divorce settlement.

Wherever possible we encourage mediation, but some parties are naturally nervous about trying a process they don’t understand and where they may feel on the back foot, particularly where the other party is controlling or financially more astute.

We mediate, but even where we are not involved because a third party is mediating, parties have found that it helpful for us to coach them and prepare them for the process and help them formulate a plan to achieve their objectives.

We are a team of non-practicing lawyers acting instead as divorce consultants to help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

Divorce – try almost anything before turning to the courts

Separating couples should “try almost anything” before turning to the courts, the president of the Family Division has said, arguing that there has “got to be a better way”.

Sir Andrew McFarlane said that “far too many families” simply turned to the court rather than seeking “less harmful, swifter, cheaper and potentially more enduring ways of resolving their disputes”.

At Divorce Solutions we look at those better ways. We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money.

If you know someone who may benefit from speaking to us, please do contact me. We don’t charge for an initial consultation.

Have you got clients who are concerned about the delay and mounting cost of resolving an ongoing divorce dispute?

As a result of Covid, the wait for a court hearing date is worse than ever so, just like opting for private medicine instead of the NHS, did you know that they can avoid the court backlog by ‘buying’ a private hearing?

Whilst not for everyone as, just like private medicine, there is a cost implication, this is just one of the many divorce options that we believe clients should be aware of.

We help people navigate the legal maze and stop them making expensive mistakes. We use our experience of the divorce process to find solutions to lower the temperature and save money. We use established but little-known processes some of which do not even involve a solicitor! If you know someone who may benefit from speaking to us, please tell them to contact me. We don’t charge for an initial consultation.